Death certificate translation and notarization

A death certificate translation is most often needed at a hard time and under time pressure: when a relative's remains have to be brought home from abroad or the other way round, when an inheritance has to be opened abroad, an insurance payout claimed, a pension or social benefit arranged, or the marital status updated in a foreign register. At such a time having the document sent back because of a mistake is especially painful. Our bureau in Tbilisi, on Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue, translates death certificates and the accompanying documents as a priority: within one working day with notarization, and within a few hours in repatriation cases.

The situations in which a translation is required

• Opening an inheritance abroad. The notary or court asks for the death certificate with an apostille and a translation, as well as documents proving kinship: birth and marriage certificates.
• Inheritance in Georgia after a death abroad. The foreign certificate is translated into Georgian and submitted to a Georgian notary to open the inheritance case.
• Repatriation of remains. The consulate, the airline and the border service ask for the death certificate, the medical certificate on the cause of death and the embalming or cremation certificate in the language of the destination country.
• Pension, insurance, bank. A foreign pension fund, insurance company or bank asks for a translation of the certificate to close an account, pay out life insurance or award a widow's pension.
• Updating marital status. A widow or widower needs the spouse's death certificate abroad to remarry or to have a certificate of marital status issued correctly.
• Citizenship by descent. The ancestors' death certificates are a necessary link in the chain of family history.

Death certificate and medical certificate: what has to be translated

In Georgia two different documents are issued on death. The medical certificate of death is a document of the medical institution or doctor, stating the cause, time and place of death; it is the basis for registration. The death certificate is a civil status document of the Public Service Hall and the Public Service Development Agency, which confirms the legal fact. In inheritance, pension and register matters the certificate is translated; in insurance, repatriation and sometimes court cases both, because the cause of death is only in the medical certificate. The medical terminology (diagnoses, ICD codes) is translated by a medical translation specialist so that the insurance company accepts the document without querying it.

What we pay attention to when translating

The deceased's name and the chain of kinship

The deceased's name is written in Latin letters according to their last passport; if there is no passport or it is old, we use the transliteration from the heirs' documents so that the kinship is unambiguous for the foreign notary. It is the match of names across the death, birth and marriage certificates that decides whether the authority recognises the heir. That is why one translator prepares the inheritance package with one transliteration.

Dates, place, cause

The date and time of death, the place, the date of registration, the record number and the issuing authority are carried over unchanged and in the format of the target country. If the death occurred abroad and the certificate was issued by a consulate, that is noted separately. On old, Soviet-era certificates, which are Georgian-Russian and often handwritten, a specialist in both languages works; where needed we recommend obtaining a fresh extract from the Public Service Hall, which receives the apostille without any problem.

Apostille and notarization

The apostille on a death certificate, as a civil status document, is placed by the Public Service Hall; an apostille is not placed directly on the medical certificate, so a notarized copy of it is prepared and the Ministry of Justice places the apostille on that. The order is the same in both cases: first the apostille, then the translation together with the apostille, finally the notarization. The apostille can also be obtained by power of attorney, so if you are abroad we can arrange the whole chain without you travelling here. For countries that are not party to the Hague Convention, consular legalization is completed instead. The general rules are described on the personal documents page.

A foreign death certificate in Georgian

If a relative died abroad, the foreign certificate is translated into Georgian together with the apostille in order to open the inheritance case in Georgia, stop a pension or enter the record in the register. Most often we translate the German Sterbeurkunde, the Italian certificato di morte, American and British death certificates, Turkish, Greek, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian documents, as well as the multilingual EU forms. US certificates differ by state and often contain a detailed medical section on the cause of death, which is also translated in full.

Urgent translation for repatriation

When remains are transported abroad or brought home, the documents often have to be ready within 24 hours. In that case we work directly with the funeral agency or the family: we receive the scan by messenger, prepare the translation within a few hours, the notary is in the same building, and we deliver the finished document by courier to the consulate or the airport.

The inheritance package: which documents are translated together

When an inheritance is opened abroad, the death certificate is only the starting point. The notary or court needs the whole chain proving the link between the heir and the deceased: the heir's birth certificate, in which the deceased is recorded as a parent; the marriage certificate, if the heir is the spouse; documents proving a change of surname, if the surnames do not match; a certificate of the deceased's last registered address, which determines where the inheritance is opened; the will, if there is one; often bank statements and property extracts. These documents are issued by different authorities and receive the apostille under different rules, but in translation they must be one whole: one transliteration, one terminology, one date of certification. That is why one translator assembles the inheritance package and we certify it in one visit.

Mistakes that stall an inheritance case

• The deceased's name different from the heirs' documents. The foreign notary cannot establish kinship and asks for additional certificates.
• Only the medical certificate without the death certificate. A medical document does not prove the legal fact; for inheritance the certificate is needed.
• Translation before the apostille. In inheritance cases the apostille is almost always mandatory and must be placed before translation.
• A damaged old certificate. An apostille may not be placed on a faded, handwritten document; obtaining a fresh extract is faster.

Turnaround

A death certificate with notarization is ready within one working day, urgently the same day within a few hours. The medical certificate is usually 1-2 pages and is translated within the same time. We prepare inheritance packages (the certificate, birth and marriage certificates, a certificate of the last place of residence) together. Documents can be delivered as a scan, by email or at the office; collected at the office, by courier or as a scan.

Frequently asked questions